Ruby's Rule 6
by mockingjay341
Summary: Ruby and Clancy have each other's backs - no matter what. So what will they do when they realise that sometimes our greatest strengths can also be our biggest weaknesses? (Follows on from my one-shot Always, but you don't need to read it. Again, can be read as slash or just friendship, and there are references to all the Ruby Redfort books.)
1. Prologue

**A/N: Thanks** **Bubbly Washing Machine** **for the lovely review on my one-shot, Always - one fav/follow is already more than I was expecting!**

 **I've decided to give this a shot; I hope it lives up to expectations!**

...

"You're up early." Hitch commented simply with that phrase when he entered the Redfort's kitchen at 4am to find Clancy Cree slumped at the table, clutching a cup of something like a lifeline. "...And drinking coffee?" He raised an eyebrow, and Clancy stared at him witheringly. "Another one?" Hitch moved to take a seat next to the kid, switching a light on as he did.

"Yeah." Clancy winced at the sudden brightness of the room, and the thought of Ruby's reoccurring nightmares. "It's every night now." There were a few seconds of silence whilst Hitch opened and closed his mouth indecisively, before he finally spoke.

"You know, Crew, you could go home for a bit. She's not your responsibility." He said, looking straight at Clancy, who didn't take his eyes off his coffee, but clenched his fists a little; a habit he'd developed recently when trying to remain calm around Ruby.

"I - I couldn't..." He stammered, noticeably distressed. Hitch sighed.

"Ok, kid, I get it." He stood up and began to make his way out to the hall. "Just know that I'll take care of her, if that's what you've got to do. The option's always there."

Clancy nodded gratefully. "Thanks." Silence fell again, until the older man reached the doorway. "Uh, Hitch?" Clancy called out quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping family upstairs. Hitch turned, and Clancy lowered his voice. "The - The Count's still alive, isn't he?" Hitch frowned sympathetically.

"You're a smart boy, Crew. I'm not going to lie to you." He said, and turned around. "Have a good day, kid." And he walked through the corridor and out of the front door, pulling it gently closed with a soft click. It was almost a full five minutes later that Clancy realised he was still flapping his arms like a headless chicken; his fears all but confirmed.

7am was not a busy time in the Redfort's residence. Only two people were up - Clancy still in the kitchen and Ruby on her way down to find him. "Hi." Clancy smiled when he saw her, hair hanging loose over her shoulders and glasses framing perfectly her tired eyes.

"Morning." She yawned in return, reaching for a banana milk.

"I heard that that stuff is really bad for your metabolism." Clancy nodded towards the carton Ruby was now sipping from.

"That doesn't surprise me." She shrugged. "These things are, like, 80% artificial flavouring and 20% added sugar." She took a seat beside him. "Have you seen Hitch?"

Clancy nodded. "Yeah, saw him leaving this morning."

"Huh. He say where he was going?"

"Does he ever say where he's going?" Clancy retorted.

"Nope." Ruby grinned slightly. "You heard about the Misfit Fashion Show in town tomorrow?"

"Have I _heard_ about it?" Clancy's eyes widened in disbelief. "Dad has been on about it for weeks." He groaned. " The Crew's have gotta make a good impression, so we're all going - to 'show support for Twinford's Talent'."

Ruby winced in sympathy. "That's rough. And right after the Eye Ball?" She threw her carton in the bin and got to her feet.

"Yeah. Maybe I can get Mrs Digby to come, just in case?" Clancy joked as he got up too. Luckily, Ruby just smiled and the pair headed upstairs to get ready for school.

"I am a trained Spectrum agent," she announced playfully, "And you're requesting the help of my housekeeper?"

"I did it before and I'll do it again." Clancy said, with a hint of seriousness. "Not that I'll need to..." He added quickly.

"No. If anything happens to you again, I'll be there." Their eyes met and Clancy hoped she could see how much that meant to him. "You won't need the help of your sister's doll and Bug." Ruby continued. They both laughed again, enjoying the normality of the morning.

"Someone really should give that dog a medal." Clancy said; and he meant it.

...

 **A/N: Ta da! ;) Not much going on in that one, but the story's going to have to get going before we get to the really good bits!**

 **I'm thinking updates will be every weekend, but if chapters don't feel right by then, I'm not going to force myself to write/post.**


	2. The Oak on Amster Green

**A/N: A nice and long one this week! By my standards anyway...**

...

The oak on Amster Green swayed gently in the spring breeze, it's leaves hiding two friends perched on its branches, having to cling to its trunk to steady themselves. "You're sure you haven't heard _anything_ from them?" Clancy asked for the third time that day.

"Clance," Ruby sighed, looking longingly at her Bradley Baker watch. "If I had another assignment from Spectrum, wouldn't I be working on that instead of talking to you?"

"Glad to know I'm so high up your priorities list." He grinned, but he knew she didn't mean it that way.

"But you do have a point." She murmured, and Clancy tried not to look so confused. "If Spectrum isn't busy at the moment, then where does Hitch keep disappearing off to? I haven't seen him in days." She mumbled, more to herself than anyone else.

"He's probably just making the most of his free time." Clancy interjected, trying (and failing) to convince himself that nothing potentially dangerous was going on. "Maybe he just really loves... Walks in the countryside!"

"There must be something else... What sort of case would they not want me to know about?"

"Or swimming. He could just be brushing up on his not-drowning skills..."

"They found the mole, so I'm not suspected of anything - am I?"

"Bowling, golf, tennis - he seems like a tennis-guy..."

"He'd tell me if I was. After last time, Hitch would tell me."

"Or maybe he secretly loves video games, and he's at the arcade right now, or-"

"Clance?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you know that I don't?"

He stopped his rambling dead in its tracks. "Sorry?"

"I know something's wrong - if it's about you, then you don't talk enough, and if it's about somebody else, you talk to much. You've been doing a bit of both today, so tell me, what do you know that I don't?"

Shocked to say the least, the boy gaped at her for a second before regaining his ability to speak. "Nothing." He breathed. Ruby stared at him some more and he thought of Hitch and the Count and the Eye Ball and- "Nothing, Ruby!" Clancy could feel his fingernails digging into his palms. "I'm just as in the dark as you are." At least the last bit was true.

"Alright." Ruby begrudgingly let the topic go, knowing that Clancy would tell her what the problem was eventually. It was beginning to get dark, and birds were starting to nest in the surrounding trees. Clancy knew they'd have to leave soon, so he cleared his throat.

"So," He swung his legs precariously over the side of the branch he was sat on, calming his nerves but doing nothing for his balance. "The Misfit Fashion Show, huh?"

Ruby turned to face him, raising her eyebrows but waiting for him to make whatever point he was coming to.

"Dad says we each get a plus one; the press don't want empty seats..." Another gust of wind had them shifting their weight and steadying themselves again. "Um, I know fashion shows aren't really your thing, but they're not really mine either, so if you like... We could go together?"

Ruby surprised the, both by nearly falling out of the tree. "You want me to be your plus one?" She spluttered.

"It'd make me a lot more enthusiastic about the whole evening." Clancy admitted.

"Okay." Ruby nodded decisively.

Clancy blinked. "Okay?" He echoed.

"Yeah, I'll come."

"You won't be bored?"

"Of course I will - I'll be bored, you'll be bored - we'll be bored together. Sound like a plan?"

Clancy frowned, taken aback, then smiled. "Yeah." He nearly laughed. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, listening to the faint humming of car engines, and occasional beeping of horns as people rushed home in time for dinner. A thought struck Clancy. "You know, you gotta wear something nice." He said sceptically.

"Sure."

"No, like real nice, Rube, the right kind of nice-" He tried again, unconvinced.

"What, you don't think I have any nice clothes?" She shot back.

"Oh, you've get them alright, you've just never worn any of them." Clancy could see her trying to think of a way out, but when push came to shove, he knew her loyalty would win over and she'd be at the show; correctly dressed or not.

"Can't I just-"

"No, seriously, Rube, you wear jeans and a t-shirt and my Dad will throw you out himself." Clancy stopped grinning now, letting her see how much he wanted her to be able to come in with him, not have to wait outside (which he knew she would).

"Okay, okay, I get it! No casual clothes, jeez..."

"Just wear one of your mum's dresses or something?" Clancy suggested unhelpfully.

"If I ask my mother for advice," Ruby began, outraged, "She will forever hold it against me. 'The time I asked her for fashion advice'." She shuddered.

"Mrs Digby, then?" Clancy guessed the lady would have some sort of fashion-knowledge - she could do everything else! Ruby grumbled then, reluctantly, agreed.

"If I turn up tomorrow with make-up to rival a clown's, it's on your conscience, Crew." She shook her head, a small smile creeping onto her face, and Clancy gulped.

"It's for the greater good, buster!" He defended. "Both our parents would kill to see us in something expensive and glamorous, so let's just get it over with before it comes to that."

"Killing two birds with one stone?" Ruby admired the logical thinking in that. "Smart."

Although it was dark, Clancy turned away slightly so that Ruby couldn't see the red tinge his cheeks had taken on.

"Thanks." He smiled genuinely. "I'll pick you up at 6:00pm tomorrow?"

"Pick me up? We'll be in the same house, bozo."

"Well at first, yeah, but what makes you think my dad isn't going to be giving me the family-pep talk before we leave? I've got to go home to get ready."

"Oh." Ruby had gotten so used to Clancy always being around that it would be weird when he was gone even for a few hours. "Alright. 6:00pm, then."

An almost chilling calm had settled over the city; dim light seeping out from the buildings, muffled music and laughter echoing from a club nearby. The whole area seemed awake but... Sleepy. Ruby yawned and stretched tiredly. "Ugh. We should head back. I'm beat."

Clancy nodded in agreement. "I'm so glad it's Friday." He muttered, almost to himself, as they began to climb down from the oak.

"Yeah, no more Bugwart for two whole days!' Ruby cheered. Clancy was with her on that one. Vapona had been giving them even more grief than usual since she found out about Mrs Digby saving them that night, weeks ago. The press had covered the story to an extent, claiming that Ruby, Clancy and Hitch had been attacked on the roof. No Spectrum information was disclosed, obviously, but there were still rumours, and these rumours had reached the school in days. Ruby pretended not to care when Bugwart called her names or picked on Clancy to get to her, but Clancy could tell it was getting to her more than she was letting on.

The wind picked up, and by the time they'd reached the ground, Ruby was shivering. Clancy took one look at her, (wearing leggings and a t-shirt reading 'I'd rather be sleeping') and pulled off his jacket, handing it to her wordlessly.

"Clance, thanks, I appreciate the gesture and all, but I'm fine." She tried to hand it back, but he wouldn't except it.

"I don't need it, I've got a jumper on; you haven't." He insisted. He knew that Ruby both wanted and needed to put it on, but she hated depending on other people - she saw it as a weakness.

"If I was cold, you'd know about it."

"But you are!" Clancy exclaimed, frustrated. "You know what, don't worry." He put his jacket back on, and his voice softened. "Sorry." He said, moving to walk alongside her. "You said you'd be there for me, and this is me trying to be there for you."

Ruby didn't look at him until they were out of Amster Green and walking down the road. "I know." She whispered, unable to resist a small smile as they made their way back to Cedarwood Drive.

...

It took Ruby an hour to track down Mrs Digby the following morning. "Are you quite all right, child?" She'd frowned, seeing Ruby's relief at having found her. "You don't need me to g et my hair pin again, do you? She asked, a mischievous glint in her eye. She'd been enjoying the recent action.

"No, I-" Suddenly, it dawned on Ruby what she was about to do. "Clancy's taking me to the Misfit Fashion Show tonight." She took a deep breath. "I don't know what to wear - I need your help."

...

 **A** / **N: I think this is all ok but sorry for any typos - even though it's late I really wanted to post tonight! Next chapter or possibly the chapter after (depending on the lengths) should be when the action starts!**


	3. The Right Kind Of Nice

**A/N: Thank you Meer-Katnip and JasM as well as Bubbly Washing Machine for the reviews, I really enjoy reading them! I first started this story because I was frustrated that so few Ruby Redfort fanfics exist, but now I just love that my writing is (hopefully) making people happy! xx**

 **P.S - This chapter will be more slash than friendship; nobody minds, do they?**

...

Ruby was beautiful.

As the door was opened for Clancy at 6:00pm sharp, he stared at the girl framed by the doorway for much longer than he should have, impressed and speechless in the best way. Her dark hair hung in loose curls down her back, covering her fair skin where the backless velvet gown didn't. The sides of the deep blue dress were cut out, leaving parts of her waist showing too, and in the middle of the straps was a pretty translucent broach - a small bird in flight. She was wearing contact lenses, and for the first time since Clancy had met her, a full face of delicately applied make-up. A few stray strands of her hair were held up and out of her face by a simple sapphire hair slide, engraved with a tiny Spectrum fly. _'Mrs Digby really knows what she's doing.'_ Clancy thought, astounded.

Ruby was _beautiful_.

Feeling slightly more comfortable now in the expensive tuxedo his dad had made him wear, Clancy stepped forward, holding out his arm. "Hi, Rube." He managed, still looking down at her dress.

"Hi, Clance." Ruby grinned. She eyed him suspiciously, before hesitantly taking his arm and stepping out of the house with him. Clancy nearly flinched in surprise; he'd been acting out of politeness, not because he'd thought that she would even consider- "Shouldn't we get going?" She raised an eyebrow, still smiling.

"Um - er, yeah, right." Clancy's brain finally caught up. "Oh, I forgot to mention, we have to do some interview thing when we arrive, to say what we think of the place." Ruby stopped - an interview? It hadn't occurred to her that lots of journalists would be there. Great. Seeing her face, Clancy quickly continued. "But my dad made me memorise what to tell them, so don't worry about that." They carried on walking until they reached the car - a limo that Ambassador Crew had insisted on for his teenage son's 'first date'.

"You look really nice, Rube." Clancy said as he opened the door for her.

"The _'right kind'_ of nice?" She joked, but there was a slightly nervous tone to her voice.

"The most amazing kind of nice that I've ever seen." Clancy confirmed honestly.

"...Thanks." Ruby laughed, stunned - Ruby Redfort looking amazing in a dress? No way. "You look pretty smart yourself." She nodded at his crisp, ironed, white shirt, dead-straight bow tie and unusually neat, curly hair.

"You can thank my dad for this." He gestured towards the suit. "I'm fairly sure it cost more than the car. We'd better not let it get dirty."

"We'll have to be careful not to get into any trouble then, won't we?" Ruby shrugged as the limo pulled out of Cedarwood Drive. Clancy sighed; if only it was that easy.

...

The show was about to begin by the time the whole Crew family had arrived. After nearly half an hour of trying to avoid small talk with Ambassador Crew's important friends, Clancy and Ruby made their way to their seats, shuffling awkwardly to the back so they could stay away from the centre of attention. "So, how does this work?" Murmured Ruby as they took their seats. Clancy stared at her in disbelief.

"You think _I_ know how fashion shows work?"

"Well, do you?"

"...Um, well..."

"You do!"

"Not really... Just... There'll be an introduction, and then they start... You know... Walking..."

Ruby stifled a laugh as the lights dimmed to almost nothing and a tall, slim woman in six inch heels strutted on stage.

"Hello everyone and welcome to Twinford Misfit Fashion Show!" She held out her arms expectantly and there was a spattering of unsure applause.

"Why are we clapping?" Ruby heard Clancy's little sister Olive squeak from the row in front. " She hasn't done anything yet!"

"I'm Sadie, and I'm going to be your host for tonight's whirlwind of fashionista talent!" She flicked her heel up delicately and fluttered her eyelashes.

Ugh." Ruby rolled her eyes. "Who _is_ this girl?" Clancy shrugged, and then winced as Sadie's high-pitched voice started up again.

"Here in Twinford, we know that no two people are the same! We want to help you show your quirks the most creative way we know how. So, without further ado; the Misfit Models of Twinford!"

A young girl in a frilly lilac dress wobbled along the catwalk, peering nervously at the cameras and trying not to fall over. Once she'd reached the end, she bobbed a little curtesy and began to move back to the curtain she had come from behind. The next model was considerably older (almost in her 40's, Ruby thought) and clearly more experienced. She swished her hair over her shoulder and the corner of her mouth quirked upwards in what could have been interpreted as a grin. As she moved to take the position of the first girl, two more emerged and bounced up behind her. Ruby leaned over to murmur in Clancy's ear. "How long is this thing?" There was a pause, and then a sigh.

"Two and a half hours." Came the reply.

...

It was one hour later that Clancy found his eyes drawn to a set of double doors far to their right. They were glass, and he could just about glimpse a small section of the starry night sky through them. Glancing at his watch, he saw that they were barely a two fifths of the way through the show - and suddenly, inspiration hit him. Gently, he felt for Ruby's hand in the darkness, and as soon as he found it, wrapped his fingers around her's.

If Ruby hadn't been a trained agent, she'd have jumped a foot in the air, but seeing as she was, she managed to hide her surprise. She turned to Clancy incredulously, about to whisper something witty, but the words died in her throat. Slowly, quietly, Clancy was pulling her towards the doors at the end of their row. 'With anyone else,' she thought, 'This would probably be a bad idea'. But she trusted her best friend with her life, and followed him without protest as they crept nearer to the edge of the room, the sound of their footsteps masked by blaring music and occasional, weary applause.

Then, before she knew it, they were outdoors, stood hand in hand on an ornate balcony, overlooking the outskirts of Twinford and the mountains beyond. The charcoal sky was stretched out above them like a map, stars spread like glitter, strewn generously through the night. Clancy let out a long exhale. "That's better." He smiled.

"That was... Spontaneous!" Ruby breathed, spinning round to face him.

"I like to think I have a wild side." Clancy said smugly.

"Yesterday, I watched you alphabetise my fridge."

"But next time you need to find the hummus, you'll know exactly where to look."

Ruby laughed, pulling him closer. "Did you just _giggle_?" He gasped in mock-horror.

"No." Ruby giggled. The music from the show was barely audible now - muffled by the closed doors.

"What _would_ LB say?" He arched his eyebrow in an expression not unlike LB's when she was annoyed.

"We both know that she doesn't approve of emotions." Ruby retorted. "So it's not really a fair trial." Then she realised something. "She knows you know everything, by the way."

"She does?" Clancy asked, alarmed. It was only when he carefully let go of Ruby's hand that she processed that he'd still been holding it.

"Hey, relax, it's ok!" Ruby leaned against the balcony railing casually. "She's cool with it."

"She... What?"

"Yeah; I believe her exact words were: 'I had a best friend too, I know how it is'."

"Oh. I wonder what she meant by that?"

"That she knows what it's like, I guess. To have someone you can trust with anything, anything at all, and know that they'd never tell a soul."

Clancy blushed. "I feel the same way about you, you know." He said surely.

"Thanks, Clance." Ruby smiled. Clancy moved over to her, opening his mouth to reply.

And that's when the screaming started.

...

 **A/N: Evil cliff-hanger, huh? Sorry about that. :)**

 **Ruby's image in this chapter seemed really important to me - she's never really been glamorous in the books, not in that way. It's very OOC, I'll admit. I tried my best to describe her outfit, but if you'd like to see the dress her's was based on, then google:**

 **'Best formal 1970s Dress products on Wanelo - '**

 **Its the image with the caption 'Rare 1970s gown with lucite bird clasp'.**

 **Let me know if you can find it, and** **thanks for reading!**


	4. What To Do When You Meet A Bear

**A/N: Woohoo! The action starts in this chapter! Thank goodness for reviews, motivating (and reminding) me to update on time! ;)**

...

It never occurred to Clancy and Ruby what might have happened that evening, had they not been interrupted. They just froze, for nearly a second, and the air was still as they stared through the glass doors. Then, everything seemed to happen too fast. Ruby leapt towards the building and Clancy only just stopped his flapping in time to grab her arm as she shot past. "What are you doing?" He asked, pulling her back.

"We - we have to go and help!" She spun back around without hesitation.

"Ruby!" Clancy called out. "Stop! This might not be-" He paused, lowering his voice. "It might not be Spectrum business. And we're safe out here."

"People need our help!" Ruby almost whined, and yanked her arm out of his grip.

"Please don't!" He chased after her, until she paused, one hand on the door.

"Why not? Why are you suddenly responsible for me? Do you think I can't handle it? Am I not good enough?" They were spoken angrily, but the words had a definite tremble to them which couldn't be ignored.

"You're not the only one who has nightmares, you know." Clancy put a hand on the door handle, on top of Ruby's. "I'm not trained for this Rube. And after the Eye Ball-" He faltered, not meeting her gaze. "The Count could have killed me. I know it sounds selfish, but... Listen, he looked straight at me, and he said 'bring me Ruby Redfort, and I will spare your life'."

"And what did you say?" Ruby whispered. Clancy had told her very little about what had happened to him before Bug had showed up, and she'd been curious about it since.

"'Never.'" He told her, and she smiled knowingly. "But that's what scares me!" Clancy confessed, eyes wide. "I know that if it came to it, I would _die_ for you, Ruby. I'm not sure it's even a choice anymore."

Ruby swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm sorry." She muttered genuinely. "I really am."

"He made me work with him." Clancy said. "He gave me the truth serum, I had to help him... Like we were... Partners or something." He shuddered, before clearing his throat and coming back to the present. "It scares me that you come up against people like him all the time, and suppose that _is_ what's going on now...I'll never forgive myself if I let you go in there and you don't come back out." He argued one last time.

"You'll never forgive yourself if you stay out here and people get hurt, either." Ruby said almost immediately. They both knew she was right - knowing he could have prevented an injury or death and he didn't would kill him.

"I guess I've only got one option then, huh." Clancy sighed.

"You usually turn up anyway." Ruby shrugged, and (though neither of them would have admitted it) the pair gave a nervous laugh. Clancy tightened his hand over Ruby's.

"Let's go." He murmured, and they pushed into the chaos together.

...

People were running in all directions, and it was easy to see the cause; someone had somehow set the catwalk alight, and the fire had spread to the curtains across the entrance. Nobody had yet tried to put the fire out, but everyone was instead looking for an exit. Ruby looked to Clancy. "If I try and sort out the fire," She gestured to a fire extinguisher hung on the nearest wall, "Can you get everyone out?" Clancy nodded, and the two split up. There was another door, aside from the main entrance and balcony, which looked to be the best escape route, but as smoke billowed and slowly filled the room, Clancy knew he'd have to be quick in order to get everybody out unharmed.

"Hey!" He shouted, waving his arms above his head. People were still trying to find a way out the entrance doors, and Clancy had to try hard not to cringe at the lack of common sense. "Hey! Hello?" Suddenly, he spotted Olive amongst the crowd, and she sprinted over to where he stood, hugging him tight.

"Where do we go?" She cried, alarmed at the noise and rising sense of panic. Clancy tried not to look too worried. "Can you see that door over there?" There were people starting to leave through it now - mostly parents and children. Olive nodded, puffing out her chest. "Yes. My eyesights really good for my age." She said, proudly.

"Okay, you need to go through there, and find Mum and Dad and Minnie, and make sure someone calls the firemen. Can you do that?"

"Uh-huh."

They ran to the exit and he carefully helped her out. "Here we go." To his relief, Clancy could see his parents and siblings, but the second he knew Olive was with them, he ran back into the building for another attempt at getting the attention of the remaining party guests.

The heat hit him full blast and he took a few spluttering coughs as he entered the hall. He'd been in there no more than a minute, trying to relocate Ruby and the others, when a firm hand dug into his shoulder, dragging him into what he could only assume was the backstage area of the catwalk. A door slammed closed behind him, the last traces of smoke cleared, and from the shadows emerged a familiar figure; not looking quite the way Clancy remembered him.

The differences were subtle - a layer of stubble on his always clean-shaven face, a slight crease in his normally immaculate shirt. But most noticeable of all was his attitude; he had the air of somebody going for all or nothing, and there was a slight edge to his face, his smile, like a man with nothing to lose.

"You've changed." Clancy said to Count von Viscount.

"I fell from a forty storey building, cut me some slack." The Count smiled, a cold, dangerous smile which sent a shiver down Clancy's spine.

"What do you want?" He tried to keep his voice steady, taking a slow step back. The Count laughed.

"Oh, Master Crew, always one for pleasantries." He walked forwards to match the distance between them. Suddenly, his smile vanished. "You lied to me, Crew. You lied, and it almost killed me."

Clancy took a shuddering breath; he knew exactly what the older man was talking about. "Almost?" He muttered shakily, his voice raising slightly in pitch. "Well, we can't always have a happy ending, I suppose-"

The Count leapt forward with surprising speed and backhanded Clancy furiously. "How did you do it?" He yelled, pinning the boy against the wall. "I gave you the ink, you _had_ to tell me the truth!"

"But I didn't." Clancy smiled; a thin, terrified smile.

"No, you didn't." The Count hissed. "Because now I know the _real_ truth _."_ He was whispering maniacally now. "It's so clear, so obvious, I was so, so _close_! All those times you have saved each other, foiled my plans... That infernal dog was not the answer to my question; Ruby Redfort's greatest weakness, is _you_."

...

 **A/N: Hehe, finally! Apologies if the middle of this chapter seems rushed, but I was super excited for the 'big reveal' - the writing gets a bit more fun from here on in!**


	5. You Or Her

**A/N: Ugh, another short chapter, I know. I'm sorry! But to make it up to you all, I'll try to post the next chapter by Wednesday.**

...

Clancy gulped, The Count's face centimetres from his own. "D-don't hurt her." He said, pressing as far back into the wall as he could.

"Oh, but my dear boy, I _will_ hurt one of you; it's her or you."

"Then hurt me."

"I do love when you get like this - you're so... Loyal! It will be your undoing." The Count smirked, as though he knew much better than to make friends. He reached into his pocket and drew a knife from it. "Ooh, I have an idea." He sung, twirling it in his hand. "Call Ms Redfort here right now."

Clancy shook his head ferociously, feeling a strange urge to grin at the power he had over The Count at that moment.

"Master Crew, you will die tonight one way or another. Don't you want her here with you?" The older man tried again. Clancy did, but he wasn't going to tell The Count that.

"No." He sighed. He knew what he was getting into, and he didn't like it.

"Shout for her, and she will come running."

"No."

"She doesn't know I'm alive, she won't suspect a thing..."

"No!"

"Very well." Clancy winced as the cold metal of the knife touched his cheek.

"Ms Redfort would just have been a bonus - I only really came for you."

...

It had taken Ruby little under ten minutes to get the fire under control. Having found two fire extinguishers, she'd had more than enough resources, and soon all of the guests, models and hosts were outside; the only traces of the fire being the thick black smog which still filled the building. She headed outside to check everyone was ok, relaxing considerably as Olive came into view, bouncing up and down and clinging to her sister's hand. "Ruby!" She chirped excitedly, "Did you see that?!"

"See what?" Ruby said breezily, brushing some of the soot off her dress.

"That! The fire!" Olive jumped up again.

"Oh, _that_." Ruby shrugged. "Yeah, I saw. Hey, have you seen Clancy?" She'd been searching the crowds whilst she was talking, but couldn't see him anywhere.

Olive nodded. "He went back inside."

"Back inside?" Ruby frowned; she hadn't seen him in there, either.

"Yep."

Ruby turned and without another word, ran back into the building. It smelled strong and despite the balcony and exit doors being open, smoke still lingered near the ceiling. "Clancy?" She called, wandering round the perimeter of the room. "Clancy?" No answer. Ruby's heart jumped unpleasantly as she shouted for him again and again, to no avail. Back outside, onto the balcony, the cloakroom; he was nowhere to be seen.

Then, Ruby heard a strangled cry. A strange, muffled noise, as though whoever had made it was trying to be quiet, and not attract attention to themselves. It had come from backstage. Slowly, she reached for the charred curtain, pulling it back to reveal a door she had missed before. She twisted the handle, and to her surprise it swung open.

A familiar voice greeted her when she stepped in without looking, eager to find the source of the noise. "How nice of you to join us, Ms Redfort." It chuckled calmly. Instinctively, Ruby reached for her wrist - before realising she'd taken her watch off.

"You're dead." She stated in an equally calculating tone.

"Apparently not." The Count replied, sneering at her.

"How are you not dead?" Half of Ruby was automatically going into agent-mode (keep him talking) but the other half just felt incredibly stupid. She didn't know what to do.

"I think the more important question is, my dear: what am I going to do to you now?" He closed the door behind Ruby, who until then hadn't even thought about running, and clicked the lock softly. "Or maybe," The Count said thoughtfully, "I'm not going to do anything to _you_." He stepped aside nearly, and Ruby saw someone slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.

 _Clancy_. Ruby thought. "Clancy!"

He had blood all down his face, neck and shirt, staining his suit; the jacket of which was nowhere to be seen. Ruby could see long, shallow cuts running the length of his arms, and there was a bruise forming on his cheekbone. "Ruby..." He muttered sleepily, his voice a mixture of relief and dread. "Don't, he'll kill you..."

But Ruby was already at his side, running a hand through his hair tenderly. "I'm sorry." She whispered, and Clancy realised she was crying. "Are you ok?" She knew it was a pointless question, but asked it all the same.

Clancy raised his eyebrows and smiled faintly. "'Course." He said.

"You are a liar, Clancy Crew." Ruby mumbled. "But I'll let it slide, given the circumstances." She added. Clancy let out a small laugh.

"Oh, how sweet!" The Count exclaimed, clasping his hands together as he approached them. "How _perfect_! Somebody should record this, this is good stuff." He lifted the butt of his knife above Ruby, her only reaction coming too late. She gripped Clancy's hand tightly as The Count brought the handle crashing down on her skull, and the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was a pained shout from somewhere to her right.

"Ruby!"

...

 **A/N: In case you hadn't noticed, there isn't really a complex plot or anything to this story, but I do know where it's going, and how it will end, so hopefully that will be enough! :)**

 **Also, I've now turned on PM (I wasn't sure what it was before) so if you have an idea or want to draw a cover picture (Meer-Katnip's Ch3 review got me thinking), let me know and I'll give credit if I use it. x**


	6. The First

A/N: **I'm just going to put it out there: this story is probably going to get a lot darker than I intended, but the great thing about hurt/comfort is that lots of hurt = lots of fluff later on, right?**

...

The first thing Ruby was aware of when she came to was a sharp throbbing pain just above her temple. Hissing frustratedly as she opened her eyes, she saw that she was lying on her side in what appeared to be an empty basement or warehouse, dimly lit by a single, bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. When she tried to sit up, she found her hands tied behind her back, and her feet were tied together too. She couldn't see anyone from her position on the floor, but once she'd managed to pull herself upright, she heard a voice.

"Ah, I knew you'd be The First." It was a croaky voice, full of amusement, and a Ruby found herself shivering at the sound of it. "There's always a first - it's worse, I think. Being alone."

Ruby decided that she did not like whoever the voice belonged to.

"Where am I?" She spoke, her voice hoarse.

"Well, if I told you that, I'd have to kill you." The voice laughed, not entirely jokingly. Deciding that she would get no answers that way, Ruby put her energy towards examining the dark room. Now her eyes had adjusted a little, she noticed a figure in the opposite corner. It groaned, then stirred in much the same way she had.

Blinking owlishly, Clancy smiled at her tightly. "Hey."

"'Bout time you woke up." Ruby commented drily.

"How long have you been awake, then?" Clancy asked, shuffling closer.

"A couple of minutes." Ruby confessed. "How are you feeling?"

"About as good as you are." He looked her over worriedly, but couldn't see any injury additional to the last time he had seen her. Ruby didn't challenge his response, but didn't believe it either. "You?"

"I'm fine." Ruby said. "But I'd rather not be here, so-"

It was then that the door swung open, and a short, angry-looking man in his late 50's shuffled in, interrupting with an unpleasantly familiar voice. "Evening." Said the man Ruby had heard speaking before. He grinned lopsidedly, making his way over to Ruby, and before she had gathered her thoughts enough to speak, he was uncomfortably close, hauling her to her feet.

"What are you doing?" Clancy called from behind him, and the old man replied without taking his eyes off her.

"The Count wants me to search the both of you for gadgets and weapons." He grunted and began to pat Ruby down roughly. Ruby and Clancy managed to hold their tongues until he was finished, when he reached forward and stroked her cheek threateningly.

"Don't touch me!"

"Don't touch her!"

Two voices rang out at the same time - the first feeling unnerved by the strangers interest in her and the second panicked that he couldn't intervene. The man just laughed. "Feisty." He muttered to himself as he headed over to search Clancy.

"Who are you?" Clancy surprised them all by saying. The man looked up, straight-faced all of a sudden. He walked over to the exit, and until he reached the doorway, Clancy was convinced he wasn't going to answer.

"You know, hostages who know the name of their captor are significantly less likely to survive the ordeal?" He casually stated. Then he smiled, and with an edge to his voice, answered the question. "My name's Roger." And he left, bolting the door behind him.

The two prisoners both released a breath the instant the door closed, glad to be alone again. The silence that followed was unusual; a Ruby breathed heavily for a long time, not saying anything, and Clancy, for the first time in his life, was worried that there was no way out of this one. That Ruby Redfort had finally gotten in too deep. Eventually, he spoke. "What's the plan?" There was no response. _Oh, no._ "Rube? You have a plan, don't you?" Nothing. "Ok, don't worry, we'll just wait here, an opportunity will come up, right? If it's The Count then Spectrum will be on his tail, they'll be looking for him, and us, right now, and-"

"Breathe, Clance." Ruby broke her silence shakily. She sat (or, rather, fell) down beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder carefully.

"What? I'm okay!"

"Your wrists are bleeding." She said knowingly.

"Huh? Oh." Clancy realised that she was right. He thought he was over his habit of flapping his arms nervously; apparently not. Subconsciously, he'd been tugging against his restraints so hard, they'd cut through his skin. Taking a long, deep breath, Ruby snapped out of it - whatever _it_ was.

"Of course I have a plan." She muttered quietly, aware that Roger could be listening as he was before.

"You do?" Clancy sounded a bit too surprised. "You'll get us out of here?"

Leaning up so she could whisper in Clancy's ear, Ruby grinned. "Just watch me."

...

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, next update should be this weekend!**


	7. As a Rule

**A/N: I know I said the next chapter would be up by the weekend, but this one took ages to get right. A lot happens, action-wise, but not plot-wise, so... Get ready, I guess? :)**

...

It was hours before anyone came back into their cell that evening. Clancy has eventually fallen asleep against Ruby; and due to the various cuts, bruises and general injuries that covered his body, she'd let him. When the door creaked open and the _tap tap tapping_ of italian leather shoes on concrete filled the air, she quickly shook him awake, muttering apologies. "Olive..." He murmured. "I've told you already, just use the TV, you don't... He trailed off stiffening as he too heard The Count. "Oh..." He groaned. "I thought it was just a bad dream."

The Count sneered condescendingly down at his 'guests'. "How do you know it's not?" He asked, appearing genuinely curious.

"Hurts too much." Clancy said.

"It's about to get a lot worse." The Count replied grimly.

"Hey, we didn't get properly caught up back at the show, did we?" Ruby smiled falsely. "How've you been? I haven't heard from you at all since... Hm, let's see... When you hurt my best friend, tried to hurt me and then _died_!"

The Count shook his head disapprovingly. "I've been here before, Ms Redfort. You always manage to talk your way out - you talk and talk until your butler or your little friend here comes to save you - but I know better now! I've learned from my mistakes, and nobody will come to save you, not this time!"! Abruptly, and in a frankly uncharacteristic manner, he took two strides towards them, and kicked Clancy in the chest angrily. Clancy gave a sharp gasp, his face portraying the obvious shock both he and Ruby were feeling. Ruby was always the... _Focus_ , of these kinds of things. She was the agent, not Clancy. Yet, again The Count kicked him, and when they heard the nasty crack of one of his ribs breaking, both teenagers cried out.

"Stop!" Ruby demanded, but The Count didn't. Instead, he just called out to Roger, who shuffled in with a very concerning grin on his face and a cigarette in his mouth. He hauled Ruby to her feet, and pulled her away, so she couldn't interfere. The Count pulled Clancy up too, but only to throw him against the wall, creating another gash at the back of his head.

"Come _on_!" Clancy grunted, wincing as he felt blood seeping from the wound. "Can't we just talk this through?" Another crack. "Please?"

"Don't talk to him, Clance, you'll make it worse." Ruby struggled ferociously against Roger. "Get off!" She hissed at him through gritted teeth.

"Hypocrite." She heard Clancy laugh weakly, before letting out another cry.

"Victor, it isn't him you're mad at and you know it!" She shouted furiously. The Count stiffened immediately at the use of his first name.

"Would you rather I was angry with you?" His voice was icy as he stared at her bitterly. Ruby gulped, and then nodded. He was clearly out of breath, and Ruby couldn't believe he had actually given her what she wanted, but all the same, he leapt at her, and Roger only just got out of the way in time. Wrapping a hand around her throat, he looked her up and down surprisingly collectively, before starting to hit her.

"You're insane!" Clancy shouted at The Count, but he didn't receive any conformation that he'd even been heard. He knew that the situation was completely out of their hands now, and he couldn't help but think back to his first real encounter with The Count: **_"You're not going to kill me?" He'd said, stunned. The Count had laughed; "I don't as a rule murder children, not unless they become particularly irksome."_**

Ruby had thought, since The Count never did any of the heavy lifting himself, that he wouldn't be able to fight. She was wrong; whilst it wasn't exactly a fair fight, she could tell he would be able to defend himself if need be. At first the blows were surprisingly hard - gradually, they got weaker, and Clancy's protests came less and less often, until finally, The Count stopped.

"Well," He said, grinning like a maniac (which, fittingly, he was). "I'd best be off. I'm dreadfully sorry but I have some business which I simply must attend to. But I'll see you both later!" He waved cheerily. "Take care of them for me, won't you?" He said to Roger, and he left, the door swaying open slightly behind him.

...

 **A/N:** **Let me know if it does feel rushed - I don't mind constructive criticism, as long as it is** ** _constructive_** **.**


	8. Step 4

**A/N: Before we even start this chapter; I'm really, really sorry. I've had a huge lack of motivation and inspiration for this story recently, but I hate leaving a story unfinished - I promise I'm going to get it done eventually, even if people do give up and stop reading it.**

...

Roger let go of Clancy and walked towards Ruby, reaching out and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Then he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, and pressed it against her collarbone. She couldn't help hissing with pain at the burn it caused, and Clancy growled angrily. He actually _growled_. Roger turned to look in confusion, and whilst he was distracted, Ruby saw the opportunity she'd been wait for. Delicately, she slipped the rope off her hands and curled her fingers around a loose stone she'd pulled from the wall. Shaking his head, Roger leaned in towards her, and without hesitation, she rammed the stone into his head as hard as she could. He fell like a ton of bricks - unfortunately, right on top of Ruby. "Agh - hey!" She exclaimed, mainly to herself. "How - are you - so heavy?!" She pushed the unconscious man off of her, and crawled to Clancy, both of them shaking.

"What-"

"I said... I had a plan." Ruby murmured, untying them both as quickly as she could manage.

" _That_ wasyour plan?" Clancy's eyes were wide, staring past Ruby at Roger's unmoving form.

"Ta da!" Ruby said weakly, standing and holding out a hand for him. He took it, and they ran to the door.

"Woah, I guess The Count really has lost it." He said as she pulled it open and they crept into the corridor. "He didn't even lock the door."

The corridor they found themselves in was narrow and dark - the ceiling was unusually low, and Clancy heard Ruby's breath hitch as she saw the small space. She shifted uncomfortably on the spot before reluctantly leading them down the tunnel, glancing behind her at Clancy every few steps. Clancy tightened his grip on her hand. "Can I hear the rest of your death-defying escape plan?" He whispered, and smiled when he saw the corner of her mouth quirk upwards in a grin.

"Yeah, um: Step 1; Get the ropes off. Step 2; Sort out Roger. Step 3; Get past what I thought would be a _locked_ door." She murmured.

"Step 4?" Clancy tried hopefully.

"I figured we'd improvise from Step 4 onwards." They reached a fork in the tunnel, both sides looking as empty as each other.

"Um... Right is always right?" Clancy guessed. He was pretty sure that was how the rhyme went.

"Left is best." Ruby said, as if she knew what she was doing. Clancy was willing to admit that she _did_ know what she was doing in most situations, but this was one of the rare times she did not.

"Okay." He sighed, and they headed down the left passageway. It was basically pitch black now, and (whilst reluctant to let go of each other) the two teenagers were using their free hands to feel along the tunnel wall. Clancy almost fell over Ruby as the passage took a sharp turn to the right, and then curved to the left soon after.

"How are you doing?" He asked Ruby quietly, hoping she wouldn't get all defensive about it; now was _not_ the time for that.

"I'm alright." She muttered. "I, um, I'm glad that we're away from Roger."

Clancy thought that sort of went without saying, but he was glad that she had mentioned it. "Me too." He told her as they swerved left again. "I wouldn't have let him do anything to you, though." He added. Ruby laughed, and then remembered where they were, and lowered her voice.

"Thanks, Clance. I'm sure if you'd had a few more seconds, you'd have kicked his butt." She told him, half sarcastic and half genuine.

"I was just being a gentleman and letting you have a shot first, you know..." Clancy trailed off as they came to a short corridor in their right which they could easily see led to a dimly lit room, similar to where they had started off, but not quite the same. "Ladies first." He gulped. Even in the poorly lit tunnel where they stood, he could see Ruby roll her eyes as she stepped forward, and pushed the door open.

Ruby and Clancy stepped inside together, realising it was a dead end a moment too late. The familiar, rhythmic clicking approaching behind them made both of their hearts sink. "Do you _ever_ quit?" Ruby practically shouted in exasperation, spinning around to face The Count once again.

"My dear Ms Redfort," The Count flashed a smile at them daringly. "I don't believe I do." He took a step towards them, and they matched it, moving backwards steadily. "You know, I considered many elaborate plots to enact my revenge upon you two." He pondered thoughtfully, moving even closer. "The jellyfish almost made a comeback... They were a favourite of mine... And Master Crew? I think, the last time we spoke, you mentioned being fed to crocodiles?"

"Now there's villain we all know and love." Ruby deadpanned, glancing at Clancy accusingly. "Crocodiles?" She mouthed to him, wide-eyed. _Don't give him ideas, Clance._

The Count took another step towards them, and laughed quietly to himself. "And then I realised, what is it that scares Ruby Redfort? Being _trapped_. And what is it that scares Clancy Crew? Well, almost anything, I suppose. But what scares him _the most_?" Both parties had stopped moving now - they had reached the back of the room, where The Count stood between Clancy and Ruby, and the door. They waited in silence for whatever he was going to do next, and Ruby sighed: ' _you know it's The Count when he's dangling you over a bubbling volcano instead of dropping you right in.'_ She thought _._

"Losing his best friend!" The Count finished gleefully. "So, I trap you, kill Ms Redfort, and leave Master Crew to perish down here alone!" He said with excitement, pulling from his pocket a small, black rectangle. "Killing two birds with one stone!" He grinned, flicking it open and revealing a long, metal blade. "Literally."

The Count lunged forward, the knife slicing through the air where Ruby would have been stood, had she not ducked beneath his arm almost instantly. There was a sickening thud as her foot met his shin, and he howled with rage, bringing the knife down sharply. Ruby flung her arm out, searching across the cement floor for a rock or brick she could throw, but there was frustratingly nothing in sight. Clancy, who until that moment had been rooted to the spot in shock, suddenly leapt at The Count, knocking his weapon to the floor. The Count hit Clancy hard, knocking him over, but that was the only reaction he gave; he was trying to ignore Clancy as much as he could, presumably still attempting to carry out his 'master-plan'. He gave up on the knife, and instead pinned Ruby to the wall, his arm across her throat, but she managed to trip him up, knocking them both to the floor. They struggled for only a few moments, The Count with one hand and Ruby with two, but to the latter it seemed like hours before The Count brought up his second hand from the floor. Everybody froze as Ruby gasped, her face set with confusion, and fell back onto the ground.

"Ruby?" Clancy tried to call her, but it came out as a whisper. Ruby reached down to just below her rib cage, and her hands found the black, rectangular hilt of The Count's knife; covered in blood, and protruding from her side.

"Oh, you're gonna regret that, bozo." She gasped, wincing as the movement jarred her injury. Forgetting completely that you were supposed to leave the weapon in the wound in that kind of scenario, she pulled hard at the knife, and she couldn't help screaming a little as it slid out and onto the floor. She took a deep breath, and started tapping a pattern onto the floor with her foot. Finally, Clancy pulled himself together, and listened hard.

-.. / - / .. / -

The Count was making his exit now, brushing himself down and chuckling. "Sayonara, Ms Redfort." He saluted to her. "Master Crew." He inclined his head a little in Clancy's direction, and turned to go out the door. He got about half way through his triumphant departure, before he heard a shout. "Hey! Not yet." Clancy, for the first time ever, didn't want The Count to leave. He always gets away with it, always runs away at the last second. Holding the knife in one hand, Clancy used his shirt sleeve to wipe the blood off of it.

"You're... _Cleaning_ the knife?" The Count laughed. "I'm sorry, Master Crew, but you clearly have no idea how to use that thing. Do you think I'm scared?"

"No." Clancy said calmly. _Deep breaths, Clancy, deep breaths. "_ But I'm glad you're not. I don't want people to be scared of me. I'm not like _you._ " He reached up, and dug the knife into The Count's shoulder. The Count cried out, in pain but mostly surprise, and he withdrew a gun from a holster which neither Clancy or Ruby had seen.

"You realise that's not a fatal wound, I hope." The Count started to arch an eyebrow patronisingly, but stopped when he saw the look on the boy's face as he stood protectively in front of Ruby.

"I'm not going to kill you." He quietly. His voice was starting to tremble, but he stood up straight, clenching and unclenching his fists determinedly. "I'm not going to stoop to the same level as you."

The Count lifted his gun and aimed it, moving his finger to the trigger, but before her could even think about firing, all three of the occupants of the room flinched violently, as a shot rang out elsewhere. "Must be off." The Count muttered casually, pocketing the gun, yanking the knife out of his shoulder and opening the door. "It was nice knowing you both. And well done, Master Crew," He looked genuinely impressed, as his eyes met Clancy's for the last time. "I didn't think you had it in you." Then he was gone.

Clancy blinked, before turning around and falling to the floor beside Ruby. "I thought you were supposed to be scared of him." She muttered, tears dripping down her face.

"I thought you were supposed to be some kind of secret agent." Clancy replied. He was already wiping his face before he realised he was crying too.

"You... _Cleaned_ the knife?" She gasped, smiling slightly.

"I didn't want your blood mixing with his." Clancy shrugged. Ruby tried to sit up, crying out when it only made the sharp pain in her side worse. "Where does it hurt?"

"Um... Let's see... Where I got stabbed!" Ruby said through gritted teeth.

"Alright, buster, I'm only trying to help!" Clancy leaned over to try and see where the damage had been done. "Let me know if it gets hard to breath, okay? I think he missed your lungs, but if he did get one of them, the internal bleeding might cause some problems..." He looked down to see Ruby had closed her eyes and her breathing was slowing. "Ruby? Ruby!" He cried desperately, grabbing her hand.

"I love it... When you talk... Medical... To me, Clancy Crew." She croaked, a faint grin playing on her lips.

"You are the stupidest genius I ever met." Clancy whispered as she passed out.

...

 **A/N: Whew! Only a few more chapters to go. I'm happy with this one, and it's the longest one yet, so I hope you enjoyed it! :)**


	9. It's Been A Pleasure

**A/N: Chapter 9, courtesy of lovely reviews from Meer-Katnip, CelestialSkies and Romione Potter, which made my day! ;)**

...

Hitch had to admit; when he'd had Mrs Digby hide a tracking chip on Ruby on the evening of the fashion show, it had felt more than a little over the top. But talking to Clancy about The Count had put him on edge, and whilst he wasn't about to put the two under house arrest, he wasn't too keen on the idea of them going out late into the night without anybody looking out for them.

As he ran down the corridor, a torch in one hand and a pistol in the other, Hitch decided that never again would he worry about being overprotective. He'd been lost in these tunnels for nearly fifteen minutes, but other than the layout of the hideout being extremely disorientating, the only form of defence he'd come up against was an old man with rifle but no ammo, and a nasty gash on the side of his head.

He was about to radio LB and report back, when a turned a corner and found himself face to face with The Count himself. "Ah, just the man I was looking for." Hitch quipped, almost laughing out loud at the look on the villain's face.

"How does she do it?" The Count muttered, shaking his head. Both he and Hitch brought their weapons up at the same time, aimed at each other's heads. "Even from beyond the grave, Ms Redfort continues to bother me."

Hitch drew a sharp breath. "Tell me where they are, Viscount." He said edging forward, brimming with irritation at the stalemate.

"You know that's not how I do things." The Count sneered. "The longer it takes you to find them, the better."

Hitch laughed humourlessly. "You know, it's a shame."

"What?" The Count's expression didn't waver for a second, but Hitch could hear the curiosity in his voice.

"I was hoping I'd just come here, rescue the kids, shoot you in the head and be back in time for tea. Now look how you've complicated things! Boy, you've always known how to rock the boat, haven't you?"

"It's been a pleasure." The Count smiled serenely. It was just then that both men heard a small voice, echoing through the tunnels.

"Ruby!" It said, sounding far away and muffled. "Please!" They both recognised it instantly; Hitch tightened his grip on the trigger just as The Count flinched and his eyes slid in the direction of the noise, and suddenly -

 _Bang_.

Hitch stood alone in the dim corridor, the smell of gunpowder confusing his senses for a moment. Blinking rapidly and looking down to the ground, he found himself staring at the neat bullethole he had made between the lifeless eyes of Count von Viscount. "Sorry, bozo." He whispered, before snapping himself out of it and starting off running in the direction of Clancy's distraught voice. _'I've been spending too much time with that Redfort kid.'_ He thought to himself.

Pocketing the gun, Hitch tried door after door, coming to more than one dead end now that Clancy had stopped talking. He sprinted to the end of the final corridor, slamming the door open and knowing that this is where they must be. Inside the room he found Clancy, leaning against the far wall, crying and covered in blood, with Ruby unconscious in his arms. They were both shivering badly, and Clancy flinched as Hitch entered, before he realised who it was. "Hitch." He breathed, almost disbelievingly.

"It's ok, kid, you're gonna be fine." Hitch crouched next to the boy, reaching out to take Ruby. Clancy let him, but kept hold of her hand.

"Remember when you said you were going to tell me the truth, or nothing at all?" He whispered thoughtfully, resting his head back against the wall behind him.

"I remember." Hitch nodded, frowning.

"Next time, you can just lie to me, ok?" And he passed out, leaving Hitch sat, by himself, waiting for backup, in a dark, bloody cell, holding two unconscious and injured teenagers protectively to his chest, one on either side.

"Ok." He agreed.

...

 **A/N: Thanks for everyone's patience with this story; if anybody is wondering, I'm planning to finish it by September at the latest. Also, Meer-Katnip very kindly followed through with their offer and drew** **Ruby 'all dressed up' as I described her. I love it, and you can check it out on their 'agentredfort' tumblr account. (The link doesn't show up here, but neither the website nor the drawing are _too_ hard to find.)**


	10. The Trouble We've Caused

**A/N: Typical! As soon as I get on a roll with writing this story, I go away on holiday and we have no internet for a week! Anyway...**

 **I don't know what the rules are for disclaimers? But I thought I ought to put one in anyway: I don't own Ruby Redfort, any characters other than Roger and Sadie (remember her?), or the extracts from the books which are used in this chapter.**

 **Which reminds me, there are major spoilers for every RR book in this chapter; you can skip it if you want, as it doesn't really advance the plot much.**

...

When Clancy next opened his eyes, he was struggling to breath. He couldn't see Hitch anywhere, and instead found himself staring at something white - a ceiling? Everything was blurry.

"How's he doing?" He heard a woman's voice from somewhere behind him, and a man beside him replying:

"He's breathing on his own again."

"Well, that's a relief." She sighed, but she still sounded tense. Clancy felt his eyes sliding closed again, and he heard more voices, one's that he recognised this time...

 _"So, how about it Rube, you may as well tell me - remember that time a couple of years ago when you knew what my mom and dad had gotten me for Christmas and you didn't wanna tell me but I just wore you down until you did?"_

 _"Ok Clance, I'll tell you but you have to swear you won't under any circumstance breath a word - not even in your sleep."_

 _"I know, girl scout's honour and all that."_

 _"Not even under torture. Not even under torture in your sleep."_

 _"I'll gag myself, how about that?"_

 _"This isn't some little secret Clancy - this is big."_

 _"You know me Ruby. I never blab - never."_

 _There was a long pause then, and a sigh. "Ok; this is the story."_

...

Ruby couldn't see; she could hear sirens, confusingly she could hear Hitch's voice, and she could feel a sharp pain in her abdomen, but that was about it. "Ruby?" Hitch was saying urgently.

"Sir, she's not responsive yet." Someone else said sternly.

"Ruby, I know you can hear me." He persisted, and Ruby groaned, tugging at what she could feel was an oxygen mask on her face. "You'll be alright, kid, I know you will." A bright light filled her previously dark vision, and suddenly she was in the basement beneath the Twinford Museum, Hitch by her side and checking her over.

 _"You ok Ruby?" He'd said, quite calmly, having just karate-chopped Baby Face Marshall._

 _"Never felt better." She'd replied, smoothing down her hair and dusting herself off. It was then that the power and come back on, lighting up the quite frankly terrifying image of Valerie Capaldi, standing in the doorway, holding a diamond revolver to Clancy Crew's temple._

 _"Well, well, well, if it isn't the secret agent extraordinaire and his little pet." She said, grinning derangedly._

 _"Hello Nine Lives," Hitch had said coolly. "I almost didn't recognise you - something about you is different, more distinguished somehow... It could be the red hair, or perhaps it's the scar. You know it suits you - adds character." Valerie Capaldi scowled. "You're going to regret that you disfigured me. I'm going to kill you and I'm going to kill the boy and when I'm done I'm going to kill the girl. How about that?" She hadn't been lying. Anyone could see that. Ruby had felt a stab of fear before remembering that Hitch was with them, and he'd get them out alive._

She hadn't spoken to Clancy until later that evening, outside the museum.

 _"Hey Rube!" Clancy had come running towards her, flapping his arms Clancy-style and sort of hopping up and down. "Boy, am I ever glad to see you, I thought maybe... You know... You'd..."_

 _"Gone to a better place?" She'd replied. "Nah, not me Clance my friend - it takes more than an evil genius to get me popping my clogs."_

 _"Which reminds me," Clancy'd said. "I found your shoe!"_

...

Ruby knew she was in many respects an unusual friend to have, but she had always hoped she was at least a good one. Until one day in particular, which she had spent obsessing over Martha Fairbank's Rubies, when she realised maybe she wasn't.

 _"I better get going, got a lot to do." She'd told Clancy._

 _"You can't go," He said matter-of-factly. "It's Friday night, we were gonna hang out, remember?"_

 _"Clance, I got a job to do, it's kinda important, you know?"_

 _"Yeah, for your information I do actually! The job is more important than anything else including your friends, including me. I got that, ok? Loud and clear!"_

 _Ruby had felt the guilt wash over her, but rather than say the right thing, she'd said the wrong thing. "Good! I'm glad you finally figured something out by yourself, bozo! It took you long enough!" She regretted it as soon as she uttered the words and saw him flinch. Clancy hadn't replied, his face had said it all, and Ruby just turned and left the diner, not once looking back._

It had only taken a near-death experience to get her to apologise. Clancy had been the only one she'd wanted to talk to, so she'd rung him as soon as she'd arrived home, leaving a message when it clicked through to voicemail.

 _"Look Clance, sorry for what I said, ok? Sorry for being a complete pain in the behind and a total duh brain. No excuses, just sorry. Call me." Intending to go and get change, she'd replaced the receiver and walked away, but before she'd made it four steps across the room, the telephone rang. She picked up the donut phone._

 _"Hey Rube, you're forgiven, wanna hang out?" And that was all it had taken._

 _"Sure I do Clance my old pal. What have you got in mind?"_

 _..._

Clancy had never been a fan of swimming, sharks, or psychopaths, so he'd known that he was completely insane when he'd braved all three to rescue Ruby. It was well worth it; the look of disbelief on her face was priceless if nothing else - but best of all was the knowledge that he _had_ helped, that maybe he didn't always just get in the way.

 _"You_ _look a bit pale Ruby, you ok?" He'd gasped._

 _"I guess I've been better. How did you find me?"_

 _"I heard you singing. Can you run?"_

 _"I'm not sure I can stagger!"_

 _"Can you crawl at least?"_

 _"Doesn't crawling involve the use of at least two limbs?"_

 _Clancy had would have sighed in exasperation had he not been almost hyperventilating already. "Could you crawl if I told you that The Count might be making his was back down here and could find us at any minute?" Ruby's eyes widened._

 _"I can run."_

 _This had certainly been an exaggeration. She couldn't actually stand without falling over and Clancy had found himself half carrying, half dragging her along the cave passages. But they had made it. Clancy had saved her and she'd saved them both as they'd climbed into the blue plastic barrel together and Ruby had shouted merrily: "You know we still stand a very good chance of dying!"_

...

She'd swallowed the ink, so she couldn't help it; she had been telling the truth. Barely two months later, this was proven, when Clancy woke to the smell of Turkish delight and the sound of Lorelei von Leyden's cut-glass voice.

 _"So_ _what were you doing in my apartment?" She had demanded._

 _"I don't know what you mean." Clancy stammered. "How could I have been in your apartment? I don't even know where you live."_

 _"You were there, I smelled your bubblegum."_

 _"But I don't even like bubblegum."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Yes, really, so tell me why would I be in your apartment when I have no idea where you live, chewing bubblegum which I don't like?" He had been more irritated than scared by this point - he guessed being kidnapped and drugged must have brought out his bad side. Lorelei had reached into his sweat-top pocket and pulled out the Hubble-Yum._

 _"Have it your own way, but I find it strange that you would have bubblegum about your person if, as you say, you don't even like it." She'd turned to go, and Clancy had called out without thinking._

 _"Would you listen to me? You've got the wrong sucker here. This isn't even my gum. I found it in my sister's bicycle basket. It belongs to Ruby Red-" He caught himself there, clamping his mouth shut._

 _"You were saying?" Lorelei prompted, suddenly interested once again. She came over and pulled the blindfold from his eyes. Clancy looked at her, knowing everything had changed._

 _"And who is Ruby Red?" She said. "And where can we find her?"_

But Clancy had said not another word; not until Ruby herself came to get him.

...

Opening his eyes again and squinting against the bright, white light, Clancy could just about make out that he was somewhere different now - he could no longer hear the kind voices from before. He couldn't hear much, actually; everything sounded as though it might if he had been underwater, and he knew from his experience with Lorelei that this was most likely a side effect of being fairly drugged up. It felt nicer this time, though; he'd felt war and cold and sick and decidedly out of it last time.

 _Ruby hadn't taken long to get to him. Still, Clancy had been wondering where she'd gotten to. "I wasn't sure you'd come." He'd smiled at her weakly._

 _"Oh, you know me Clance. I'm not always punctual, but I always show up eventually." She'd taken his hand and managed to gently stand him on his feet; he wobbled a bit, but he didn't fall. "Look Clance, we're gonna have to run for it - you think you can do that?"_

 _"Sure." He'd said. They'd travelled about twenty yards when he started to look decidedly unstable._

 _"Are you ok?" Whispered Ruby. Clancy had said nothing, just breathed all the harder. "Ok, you're gonna need to keep going." He sort of nodded, but stayed where he was. "You don't seem very ok." Ruby had said. "Are you about to pass out on me?" Clancy shook his head, and passed out._

 _He'd been slightly more coherent, but no less drugged, when he opened his eyes again. "Am I still here?" He'd said._

 _"Yeah, and unfortunately, so am I."_

 _"Do we have to go back?" He asked. "I didn't like it so much there."_

 _"No, I don't think that's such a good idea." Ruby said, in deep thought. "Ok; this is what we're gonna do."_

She'd gotten them out of there in one piece, obviously, but it had been a close shave, and something neither of them ever wanted to happen again.

 _"It's nice to see you alive Clance, you know that?" He remembered her saying to him when it was all over and done with._

 _"Yeah, nice to see you alive too, Rube." He'd replied sincerely. "You're quite the survivor."_

...

Something which worried Ruby was that, since she was currently incapacitated, and could hear Hitch, her parents and Mrs Digby around her; Clancy was alone. He could look after himself, sure, but sometimes he just needed somebody else; like the time Beetle had joined their class.

 _Ruby had no idea how long it had been going on before that Thursday when she was late for school; the Thursday when she found out. When she had finally made it to class that day, she'd taken no notice of Mrs Drisco marking her down for detention - she'd been too busy looking at Clancy Crew, who had a large band-aid on his forehead and a distinctly yellow streak to his hair. Beetle, who she'd seen during detention at recess, had had the very same colour on his shoe. "Hey," He'd said, catching up to her in the corridor. "So what bad thing did you do?"_

 _"You have yellow on your shoe." She'd said._

 _"Yeah, I guess I do."_

 _"Why did you trash my bike?" Her voice gave nothing away as she stared straight at Beetle._

 _"Your bike?" Beetle had said, seemingly innocent. "I would never, I mean why would I? I mean, I like you."_

 _"That bike was real special to me, that bike saved my life once. Clancy Crew is the only person on the planet I would give that bike to, and you trashed it."_

 _"I didn't know it was yours." Beetle had tried to explain. "That Crew kid is a friend of yours? You have to be kidding."_

 _"Why do I have to be kidding?" Said Ruby. "Do I sound like I'm kidding?"_

 _"It's just you seem like you're, you know, cool."_

 _"I am cool."_

 _"But he's such a loser."_

 _"That 'loser' happens to be a good friend of mine, my closest friend actually." Ruby's said through gritted teeth._

 _"But I mean, how was I to know? He's like, a total duh."_

 _"No, I know what a total duh looks like." Ruby was looking at him hard in the face. "You think it's ok to beat up kids with your three pals, all four of you against one 'loser kid, one skinny, loser kid'? You picked the right colour, man - yellow, just perfect for a bunch of cowards."_

Ruby Redfort knew she had made it up to Clancy; they had gotten their revenge and boy had it been fun. But thinking about it now just made Ruby want her best friend more than ever. She wanted to say sorry for all the times she'd gotten him into trouble, and laugh over all the trouble they'd caused, and sit up the oak on Amster Green and let Hitch sort out all the trouble they had left behind at Spectrum...

Clancy Crew was thinking the exact same thing as his vision faded again to black.

...

 _Small, shining specs of light had glittered in the darkness all around them. All around Amster Green; stars._

 _"Hey Clance," Ruby had called through the darkness, "Thanks for saving my life!"_

 _"Any time!" Clancy had shouted back._

 _"And I forgive you for blabbing!"_

 _"I never blabbed! I was truth-serumed!"_

 _"I know it! Don't get your underwear in a bunch - I was joking!"_

 _"You could dangle me over a pit of wolves..."_

 _"Feed your toes to crocodiles..."_

 _"And I still wouldn't blab." Clancy shouted._

 _"And you know why?" Ruby had yelled back, grinning. "Because you're some friend!"_

 _"Takes one to know one!" Clancy had told her, before he left._

...

 **A/N: Four more chapters after this one; I've written most of the rest of the story, so the next update just depends on how quickly I can type it up! :)**


	11. Banana Milk

**A/N: Apologies for any 'mistakes' in this chapter; since I'm a Brit, I've no idea how the American emergency services work, and I might end up automatically using British vocabulary as well.**

...

Brant and Sabina Redfort were many things. They were... Enthusiastic. Kind-hearted... Maybe even eccentric. But most of all, Brant and Sabina Redfort were loud. This was something Ruby has never really noticed about her parents, until she was woken up from a medically-induced coma by their worried 'whispering' barely twenty-four hours after being stabbed. She was sure that was what had happened; she remembered The Count, and Clancy, and... an ambulance? Which made sense, because now, she realised, she was in a hospital bed. "Oh brother..." She groaned, rolling over and opening her eyes slowly. Bright light flooded her vision, and so she heard her parents relief rather than saw it.

"Ruby, darling, are you alright?" Her mother squealed, leaping from her chair and perching on the bed beside her.

"Give her some space, Sabina, the doctors said she was going to be ok." Brant attempted to restrain his wife, but to no avail.

"Brant, please! I was so worried, you know! Don't do that to me again, Ruby."

Upon her eyesight finally adjusting, Ruby saw both her parents leaning over her, Mrs Digby sat to the right of her bed, and Hitch stood to the left. "What, did I sleep in again?" Ruby croaked, and Sabina gasped.

"You were in a fire at the Misfit Fashion Show!" She exclaimed solemnly. "You almost died!"

"Yeah, Mum, I noticed." Ruby grinned, taking her mother's hand. As Brant told Ruby that he knew she'd be ok, that she was a fighter, and Mrs Digby insisted she drink some water and get some sleep, Hitch just smiled and left them to it - he didn't want to overcrowd her, or intrude on the family at such a seemingly intimate moment. Instead, he decided to pay a visit to someone who he knew wasn't in the middle of a reunion. He headed to Room 241: the room of another seriously lucky thirteen year old; Clancy Crew.

...

When Hitch got the the room, even he couldn't suppress a sigh. Looking in through the glass window pane which was set in the door, he saw a scene he'd been expecting - Clancy was sat on his bed, alone, fiddling with the cast that had been put on his right wrist. The kid's sisters had dropped in twice (once when he was brought in and once earlier that day) and left various flowers/cards/drawings, but his dad had been 'too busy' with the press, since he had been at the fashion show and his own son had been a 'victim of the fire'. Hitch would never show it, but he couldn't help feeling frustrated at Ambassador Crew for this very reason; his children were more of publicity stunt to him than anything else. Gingerly, he opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hitch!" The man in question had barely made it into the room when Clancy called out to him, eyes bright with curiosity and wild with worry. "Where's Ruby? Nobody will tell me anything; is she ok?"

"She's alright, kid, slow down." Hitch said carefully, moving closer to the bed. "She had to have a blood transfusion, but they found someone with her blood type, so she's fine."

"What's her room number?" Clancy asked, pulling back the bed sheets.

"You can't see her just yet, just try and get some rest." Hitch braced himself for the argument he knew was coming.

"What? Why?"

"You're both still recovering; I mean, it was only yesterday that you were brought in with," Hitch glanced at the notes on the end of Clancy's bed. "Internal bleeding, broken wrist, shock..."

"Internal bleeding?!" Clancy repeated, eyes wide. Hitch winced. _Whoops_.

"Listen, kid, Ruby's with her parents at the moment, ok?" He tried. Clancy looked up as if to say 'if _her_ parents are here, where are mine?'. _Damn it, Hitch, not helping._

"Ok." Clancy nodded eventually. Hitch stood in the middle of the room for a second, uncharacteristically lost, before settling for sitting down and keeping the poor teen company.

"Do you need anything?" He asked tentatively. "Although I'm not sure you're allowed any food yet." He added. Clancy was taken aback - he'd never seen anyone from Spectrum act anything other than confident.

"Nah, the nurse already got me a drink." He replied, grabbing a carton from the bedside table pointedly. The two sat in silence; Hitch sat stiffly in a plastic chair beside Clancy's bed, whilst Clancy slurped up the cheap carton of banana milk shyly.

"Didn't think you liked that stuff." Hitch commented. Clancy shrugged slightly, wincing at the movement.

"I don't." He said shortly. "The hospital stuff is even worse than the stuff Ruby buys."

Hitch shifted in his uncomfortable seat, moving it marginally closer to the boy. "Am I allowed to ask why you're drinking hospital edition banana milk which you don't like even on a good day?"

Clancy more or less ignored the question, instead sighing and putting his carton to one side. "I... I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you, Hitch." He at last looked up at the older man. "And I'm sorry about what I said to you before. I appreciate you telling me the truth... And rescuing us. It's just stress, ok? I... I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't do anything! I just kept thinking that maybe somehow it was my fault; like if I'd told Ruby what you told me, she would have been... Prepared. The Count was... I didn't even care that he was so angry with me - I mean, I did, I was terrified, but what really got me was what he was doing to Ruby; what Roger was going to do... If you hadn't turned up-"

"You would have been fine, kid." Hitch had heard enough. "I won't lie, when I first met you, I was surprised that Ruby was your best friend. You're different, you know? But Ruby talks to me outside of 'work', and I happen to know that she would be dead at least four times over without you. You mean a lot to her, that's for sure, and I for one have never met someone as loyal as you." He stood and headed to the door after this outburst, turning and smiling as he went. "So you can quit worrying." He called out as he left.

"Uh - sure." Clancy's dumbfounded reply came minutes later, so the only person around to hear it was a very confused, and frankly concerned, passing nurse.

...

 **A/N: Hope this isn't too confusing, considering the layout of the last chapter. Let me know if it is. :)**


	12. Smile

**A/N: The long awaited fluffy h/c chapter! Although hopefully there will be more to come. Again thanks Meer-Katnip for the review, which really encouraged me to get this chapter done and posted!**

...

Between family visits and check ups from doctors, it was almost noon the next day when Ruby Redfort was finally left alone. She grabbed her mother's coat, which had been left behind when her parents had gone to buy lunch, and pulled it on, zipping it all the way up so that the hospital gown she was wearing was no longer visible. Ruby grabbed her glasses, and snuck out of her room, running (or fast-walking, as it turned out running was bad for stab wounds) to reception. "I'm here to see Clancy Crew." She muttered to the nurse behind the desk.

"Clancy Crew?" The lady began to type on her computer, glancing sceptically at Ruby every so often.

"He was brought in a couple of days ago, with Ruby Redfort?" Ruby urged. Seriously, how many Clancy Crew's could there be in this hospital?

"And you are?" The receptionist raised her eyebrow.

"Rebecca, his girlfriend." Ruby inwardly cringed - girlfriend? Where had that come from? The lady's face brightened instantly.

"Right, well Rebecca, he's in Room 241. Do you need any help getting there?" She smiled.

"No, thank you." Ruby shook her head. She could vaguely remember seeing it on the way down. Within minutes, she was stood outside, knocking on the door of Clancy's room. Without waiting for an answer, she hurried in.

...

"Clance?"

Ruby felt Clancy before she saw him; the boy leapt from his bed and threw his arms around her, almost knocking them both to the floor. "Ruby!"

"Hey, bozo." Ruby hugged him back, and the two of them stood there until her side began to hurt. Pulling away gently, she looked at Clancy, all hurt and worried and delighted at the same time. He broke the comfortable silence first.

"Still alive." He said.

"Still alive." Ruby nodded, grinning.

"How?" Clancy smiled back.

"How are we still alive?" Ruby clarified, laughing.

"How are _you_ still alive?"

"How are _you_?" She countered.

Clancy laughed. "How are you here?" He gestured to the hospital room.

"How are you not freaking out and panicking that we're going to get caught?"

Clancy tilted his head to one side. "Why are you wearing your mum's coat?" He frowned. Ruby pulled it off and threw it onto the floor. Grabbing his hand, she led Clancy over to his hospital bed, and they both sat on it.

"I love you, Clance." She giggled, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"Uh, I think whatever drugs your doctors have you on are making you loopy." Clancy tried to reason with her, but she shook her head, holding up the back of her hand to show him.

"Took the IV out." She said innocently. Clancy froze.

"Any head injuries I should know about?" He guessed, chuckling weakly. Ruby gave him a withering look. "In that case," He took a deep breath and, just in case, checked that nobody (especially Hitch or LB) was stood outside. "I love you too, Rube." He told her. Ruby beamed. Then her eyes glinted mischievously.

"Shh..." She hissed, looking out through the glass pane of the door.

"What-"

"I told the reception lady that I'm your girlfriend, Rebecca." She whispered, grinning.

"But I don't have a girlfriend called Rebecca..."

"I know, duh brain." Ruby gave him a playful nudge. "Don't blow my cover."

"You are _so_ on painkillers." Clancy smirked.

"I am not!"

Clancy reached out and, carefully, tucked a loose strand of hair behind Ruby's ear. She shifted on the bed, jarring a couple of his fractured ribs, and he winced; her smile faded, and for a horrible moment he thought he had done something wrong. Then her lip began to tremble. "I'm sorry." She said, her voice cracking. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." Tears began to spill onto her cheeks and she blinked furiously, trying to stop them.

"I- uh, it's ok-" Clancy stammered.

"Look what I did!" She cried, staring at his cast. "I'm so dumb, all those times I made you come with me to- to the middle of nowhere, looking for lost treasure or dangerous bad guys or-"

"You think you _made_ me come?" Clancy gaped. Ruby nodded, removing her glasses and wiping her eyes. "Ruby, I would have come with you _no matter what_." He said firmly.

"But I cause so much trouble, and you're always scared half to death-"

"Yeah, I'm scared half to death! I'm always terrified when you get me involved with your work, you know that! But I love every second of it!" Ruby's crying stopped abruptly, and it was her turn to stare in stare speechlessly at her friend. "What kid hasn't dreamt of being a secret agent, stopping the bad guys and saving the day? Granted, there are a lot more training programmes and rules in real life than on TV, but you have that life, Rube! And you shared it with me. _Never_ apologise for that."

Ruby gulped. "You're the best, Clance." She murmured, catching his eye as she said it. "Bozo." She added, ruffling his hair.

"Hey!" He protested, softly laughing as he tried to dodge her. "Quit it, Redfort."

"You have an amazing laugh." She replied, taking him by surprise.

"I what?"

"Well, I just almost died, in case you hadn't noticed, and my last regret was that I hadn't told you everything I love about you." She announced dramatically.

"Last regret?" Clancy shook his head disbelievingly.

"I'm serious!" She insisted.

"Let's not do this now, Rube-"

"You are fluent in the language of sarcasm. Like, literally, a complete master."

"Ruby-" Clancy was bright red.

"You are loyal, and brave-"

" _You_ are the cleverest person I've ever met." Clancy interupted, succeeding only temporarily in shutting her up. "You're always pretty, even after you've been in a coma for two days," He glanced pointedly at her knotted hair and creased hospital gown, and she blushed. "And you have no shame over your love of unhealthy food."

"You, my friend, can always think of a good comeback in the face of a psychopath." Ruby yawned suddenly, and Clancy put his non-broken alarm around her.

"Except from The Count." He murmured back.

"Except from The Count." She agreed.

"You're cool, but not, like, the 'mean' kind of cool." He grinned as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You go to all your dad's stupid events, even though he's a jerk to you." She told him sleepily.

"You don't mind telling me that my dad's a jerk."

That made Ruby laugh quietly. There was a thoughtful pause, and then: "You hate deep water." She said out of the blue.

"Why is that a good thing?"

"It just is." She smiled.

"You're an awesome best friend." Clancy whispered.

"You took the words right out of my mouth."

...

Hitch hadn't been _truly_ worried when he'd found Ruby's room empty that afternoon. He'd strolled to Room 241, knocked gently, and pushed open the door. He couldn't help but smile when he'd seen Clancy and Ruby curled up on their sides on the bed together, the former with his arms wrapped protectively around the latter, both of them sound asleep. He'd just pulled the blanket up over them, backed out of the room silently, and closed the door with a _click_ behind him.

...

 **A/N: Lots of dialogue, I know, but that was kind of the point. Oh, and the** **story can definitely be read as slash from here on in, but there is obviously nothing explicit.**


	13. Thank You

**A/N: Ok, so - this is officially the penultimate chapter! There isn't really any plot left; I'm just trying to come to an appropriate point to finish. Enjoy!**

...

After a frustrating week of trying not to lose track of Ruby and Clancy as they snuck off to see each other, Hitch was extremely glad to be seeing the back of the hospital. With the Redforts, Clancy and Mrs Digby in the car with him, it was by no means a quiet, relaxing journey, but he felt relieved all the same. "Ok, kid, this is your stop." He called to Clancy as he pulled onto the kerb outside The Crew's residence. He turned to face the occupants of the backseats, feeling a pang of guilt as he saw the boy's face. Clancy's look of disappointment didn't last more than a second though, because he was well-accustomed to faking a smile and being polite to people, even when he didn't feel like it.

"Ah, well I guess you'll have to show me that new tie when I next see you, sir." He said to Brant, who had been describing with great enthusiasm the contents of his wardrobe.

"Of course, kiddo, don't leave it too long without paying us a visit!" Brant chirped, waving goodbye. Clancy was seated in between Ruby's parents, so Sabina got out of the car to let him through.

"You stay out of trouble for me, child." Mrs Digby grinned at him as though she knew how useless it was telling him that.

"I'll try, Mrs Digby." Clancy called back, climbing out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Hitch." He waved energetically at the Spectrum agent, and received a smile and a nod in exchange for his efforts. He turned and looked up, startled to see Ruby's mother staring straight at him intently. Suddenly, she stepped forward and took his unbroken hand in both of hers.

"Thank you; for looking after Ruby, in that fire." She said hurriedly. Clancy opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find anything to say. "She... She might have died, and if she had... I'd have never forgiven myself if she was alone, if _I'd let her_ go off alone... But, just, thank you, for being with her." She smiled, letting go of him. "See you soon, Clancy." She turned, and rejoined her husband in Hitch's car. The door slammed shut, and Clancy gave himself a shake, unable to fully process the mystery that was Sabina Redfort. The boy started to walk up the drive to his front door, but stopped when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, bozo, you weren't gonna leave without saying goodbye were you?" Ruby smirked.

"I was just trying to leave before its too late," Clancy smiled. "I think your family want to take me home with them!"

"Yeah, well that's what you get for asking my dad about clothing." Ruby shrugged.

"I only asked if he was wearing a new shirt! I was being polite!" Clancy held his hands up in surrender.

"Seriously, they will, if you let them." She persisted. Clancy looked at her questioningly. "Take you home with them." Ruby clarified. The pair walked slowly up to the doorstep. "Clancy, I'm gonna say this because I'm your friend, and someone has to say it; it might as well be me." She met his eyes cleared her throat. "Your dad didn't come to visit you once, in a _week_ of being in hospital."

Clancy nodded. "He's super busy at the moment." He said automatically.

"You're a loyal person, ok, I get it - and blood is thicker than water and all that - but if your dad... If he ever... Goes to far; says something, or does something out of line... You come to my house, and you tell me straight away, alright? Because he's not a nice guy, and I for one would not like to have to live with him." Ruby winced; a lot of that had come out wrong, and Clancy was sure to be offended - take it the wrong way, or...

Clancy stepped forward, and hugged her quickly. "Thanks, Rube." He whispered.

"Anytime." She replied. She turned to leave, and Clancy reached for the door handle, but before he got any further, he felt a hand in his. Ruby leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye, Clance." She grinned, and walked away towards her ride home.

"Bye, Rube." Clancy murmured as the car pulled away and started off down the road. Then he pushed open the door, heading upstairs to go and find out what school work he had to catch up on.

...

 **A/N: I will post the next (and final) chapter later today! ;)**


	14. Epilogue

**A/N: Ta da! This is it! The final chapter! Thank you so much every single person who has read, reviewed, or followed this story; I would never have even started it without the reviews on my Ruby Redfort one-shot, 'Always'. I really hope you've enjoyed reading 'Ruby's Rule 6' as much as I have enjoyed writing it! :)**

...

"Did Hitch ever tell you how he did it?"

"Did what?"

"Found us. You know, rescued us."

"I just kinda assumed he has superpowers. I mean, seriously, I don't think it's even _possible_ for the guy to get hurt. Have you ever seen him get so much as a paper cut?"

"The dude is awesome." Ruby grinned. "Remember the dress I was wearing?"

"Yes." Clancy answered immediately. He wasn't going to forget _that_ in a hurry.

"Remember the kinda translucent broach that was on it?"

"It looked like a tiny bird?"

"Yeah - well Hitch got Mrs Digby to put a tracking device in it."

"No!" Clancy's jaw dropped. "He did not!"

"He did." Ruby nodded, laughing. "It would be creepy, if it hadn't saved both of our lives."

"Did LB know?"

"What's your obsession with LB?"

"If Hitch isn't a superhero, then LB must be; she knows _everything_!"

"How do you _know_ I'm not a superhero?" Ruby and Clancy almost fell out of the oak on Amster Green as a voice called from below them.

"Hitch!" Clancy's voice was about an octave higher than usual. "How long have you been stood there?"

"Long enough. Come on, Redfort, you're needed. LB wants to speak to you."

Clancy paled considerably. "You see?" He hissed. "She knows we were talking about her."

"Don't be a duh brain." Ruby joked, climbing down to the ground with ease. Clancy followed, slightly less gracefully, and Hitch shook his head.

"Come on, kid, you know you can't come." He said apologetically. Clancy flopped onto the ground, leaning against the trunk of the tree.

"Yeah, I know. I'll wait here." He said, only slightly out of breath. Climbing trees was _hard_ with only one working arm.

"Sorry, Clance, duty calls." A month ago, Clancy would have been put out that he was being left here, sat on the ground, by himself. But it no longer bothered him. "I'll tell you everything when I get back."

"You promise?" Clancy teased.

"I promise." Ruby smiled, and she and Hitch left. Clancy stretched out in the shade underneath the great oak tree, glancing at his watch. '15:40', it read. Four hours and twenty minutes until he had to be back at home. He and Ruby had been planning on going back to her house for dinner courtesy of Mrs Digby, but now she was off in Spectrum business, they'd probably end up skipping the meal anyway. Or maybe it was nothing, and she'd be back in an hour or so, laughing about something cryptic that LB had told her, and they'd head to a diner. Either way, Clancy didn't really care; he just leaned back against the tree and watched people passing by, going about their own business. He could wait for Ruby Redfort for forever and a day.

...

'Clancy Crew,' Ruby thought as she sat in Hitch's car ten minutes later: 'Is not every smart kid's smart kid. Sure, he doesn't exactly blend in, but at first glance, there is nothing about him that makes him particularly special either. He isn't a Spectrum agent; he isn't an experienced free runner; he definitely isn't an expert at French. But he is kind. He's loyal, and he's clever, and he's patient, when he wants to be. And most importantly; Clancy Crew, whatever else he may be, is mine.'

...

 _Rule 6: Never have a friend who would sell you out._

 _..._

 **A/N: So... What next? ;) I'd appreciate any suggestions for fanfics for Casualty, Teen Titans, Star Trek, Blackadder, iZombie... Anything that I've seen, really - and again, thank you for taking the time to read this story! xx**


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